Fiction blurs the line between fantasy and reality in a way which makes things allowable. Acceptable. It takes what is taboo in society and turns it into something society can accept since it's only a book. Movies allow the same thing in some ways yet not in others because visual stimulation is often far more disturbing to the world at large.
It's why there is such a discrepancy between the number of films featuring BDSM elements versus books involving the same elements.
"Her Men" focuses on small-town sheriff Julie Weston's twenty-year-long fantasies about having a wicked threesome with the two loves of her college days: Tim and James.
The opening is a glimpse into Julie's richly detailed fantasy life with the two men though the story then progresses along to the reality of their lives wherein she hasn't seen or spoken to Tim since breaking up with him in college and James is only her friend through a Facebook connection. She doesn't truly know these two men. They don't actually know her as she is now, only as the flag girl she was in the college marching band.
There's no deep connection between the three which has spanned the two decades.
They're all bound together only by memories of "The Good Old Days" and fantasies of "what might have been."
It's incredibly easy to relate to on a reader's level. Who hasn't wondered about the one who got away?
Over the course of the piece, Julie has to reconcile the reality of these two men with her fantasy versions of them. She has to learn whether or not Tim is really as debonair as she dreams or if James is as tender as he seems. She has to ask herself if she has a right to try to get both of them into her bed at the same time only to know one or more of them will be walking away broken-hearted. It's interesting to see how deep she goes on an emotional level trying to come to grips with who she is as a woman of 44 versus her fantasy life version of herself where she's still barely legal to drink.
I loved the way it all panned out. Some of the language was overly flowery for me -which always tosses me right out of the story- and the helpful BFF from way-back-when showing up to guide them all along read a lot like a reality-based version of a Fairy Godmother, but hey! It's a fun read. It's a good story. It's definitely worth 4 stars for sheer pleasure-based reading though I will say it's significantly more heavy than what I was anticipating from the synopsis. Personally, for me as a reader, the balance between fantasy and reality wasn't always so well-maintained which resulted in it being a fun read for me, but not one I'd feel the need to revisit.
NOTE: I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review on behalf of This Redhead LOVES Books Blog. All opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.